Sprint in Talks to Buy Clearwire

Dec 11, 2012 1:44 pm ET

Reuters

By Sharon Terlep and Anton Troianovski

Sprint Nextel is in talks to acquire the 49% of Clearwire it does not already own in a move to clear up a tangled ownership structure that has left Sprint unable to control the decisions of a key strategic partner, people familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

Sprint is also after its smaller partner’s spectrum rights.

A deal may not happen and could be complicated by the pending acquisition of Sprint by Japan’s Softbank and the need for approval from a diverse group of Clearwire shareholders, one of the people said. Sprint may seek to condition a Clearwire deal on the Softbank deal going through, the person said.

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